User blog:Brady26/The Raider's Revelry
Limping their way to the Governor's mansion on the other side of town to the keep, the group are greeted by the Governor, Khez, Cai, Sildar and Chamain. Nighthill tasks them with finding the raider's camp to find out their numbers, recover any stolen treasure they find and find out who their leaders are. Khez and Cai told the group they too had been tasked with a mission by the Governor, to contact the Enclave and the Small Ring, inform them of the escalting threat of the Dragon Cult and request any assistance they could offer. Likewise, Sildar and Chamain stated they intended to travel east to the city of Eldswall to inform the Noble Alliance of the attack in a few days. Nesim Waladra, a half-dragon monk that was injured in the raid approached the group to ask them to find his master, Leosin Erlanthar, a scholar that was studying the cult and was likely captured, showing the torn choker that belonged to him, the group agreed to keep an eye out and rescue him if they found him. At the Fount Inn the group rested for the day, drinking and preparing their own food as they readied themselves to pursue the raiders, they discussed what they knew and how they should approach the camp. The prisoner they took earlier in the night had been killed by another prisoner they had captured who then escaped, preventing them from finding out any more information on the exact location of the camp. After receiving some equipment from Escobert, the group was almost ready to set off when Darion asked for the inn's best cask of dark ale, which the innkeeper, Gin, sold to him for 25gp, which prompted Gin to kick the other patrons out and set off to the Governor's mansion with a backpack, declaring he had left the inn in the hands of Alais his barmaid. Meanwhile, Barra and Kadmos travelled to the church dedicated to Sune to recover any remaining books or artefacts left untouched by the cultists. There Barra meditated on the different gods he had come to know, Moradin, Tiamat and this strange new god Elendei, whilst Kadmos uncovered the journal of the former priest of Sune, the record documenting his slowly lost faith during the Silence of the Gods and his total lose once the gods did return. Finding a flask of holy water in a hidden alcove, Barra cleaned the altar of profane marks left by the cultist, and they returned to the group. Setting out towards the edge of town the group sees the grasslands outside has been trampled down flat heading south east into a sparsely wooded area filled with tall grass. Trudging through the grass the group spots a few plumes of smoke as the sun was setting, Barion spots that there are two groups, human cultists and a larger group of kobolds that do not seem to get on well. With this information Rack sneaked ahead with a smooth rock that Darion found, placing himself with the kobolds between him and the cultists, hurling the rock at a cultist's head. The cultists thinking the kobolds had done it, the two breaking into a fight until only five kobolds were left. The group charged in, slew all but one of the remaining kobolds who tried to flee, climbing a tree which Barra managed to shoot an arrow and pin them to a branch. Interrogating the creature, which seemed to be trying to give them whatever nonsense it thought would get it out of the situation, eventually Darion decided it could offer them no more so he struck it with his hammer, killing it. Moving forward the group is struck by a hail of falling rocks by a rearguard of the cultists, the ambushing group managing to knock down Barra immediately. Recognising the leader of the group as the cultist that had escaped them before, a veteran warrior wielding a magic dagger which he stabbed Darion with, sending a pulse of dark poison into his body. Defeating the rearguard, with Rack, Darion and Barra nearly dying, the group rested whilst Barra regained consciousness, Rack attuning himself to the Dagger of Venom as they waited. Once Barra was awake they set off east, hearing the sounds of revelry and partying ahead of them, believing they had come across the camp the group discussed how they should approach, realising they should find some disguises back at the ambush site they just left. Returning to the ambush site, everyone except for Darion put on the robes of the fallen cultists and set off towards the camp. With Darion waiting behind, the group entered the camp unmolested. Having difficulty counting the numbers as there were so many people moving around or coming in and out of tents, additionally they did not see any treasure around the place or caches of gold. Asking around they found out that the captive was being held in the back of the plateau where the camp was in, they found the monk captive was mostly alone but for a watchtower that looked down on the area. Climbing up to the tower, Barra convinced the watchman that he was his replacement, the drunk man attempting to climb down the ladder which Rack grabbed and shook violently causing the man to fall a hundred feet to his death, attracting the attention of a number of people around. An acolyte demanded answers from Rack and Barion, with that moment of quiet that the scene had caused, Barion was able to estimate the number of cultists and kobolds in the camp. Thinking fast, Barion and Kadmos attacked the nearby cultists whilst Rack rushed over to the monk prisoner to release his bonds, with held from Kadmos they freed him and made their escape. Seeing the action below, Barra waved a green flag he found hoping it would confuse the cultists, he then slid down the ladder, managing to avoid breaking his legs when he landed and set off after his friends. In a mad dash through the camp, the group made it to the tree line where Darion was waiting, with Barra managed to convince enough of the cultists that they need to secure the prisoner, unbeknownst to them, the prisoner Leosin had taken a cultist cloak and was disguised in the very group and declared that he and Barra would catch the killers. Meeting up, the group talked for a while whilst the camp was in disarray, eventually hearing the sound of search parties looking for them. Deciding to leave the group to try and hold off the cultists based off his earlier success, Barra ran back without informing the party of his plans, who then ran in the opposite direction not wishing to fight the entire camp they fled west with Leosin. Barra encountered a group of cultists, whom he attempted to convince to turn around, instead they attacked him with their clubs, miraculously, Barra managed to dodge or otherwise block the attacks against him, using the impressive feat to intimidate the cultists into turning another direction, the terrified men eager to be away from the dragonborn. Soon however, a familiar sight appeared, the blue dragonborn Langdedrosa with a number of his elite guard appeared, Barra fell to his knees, prostrating himself before the warrior, hoping to likewise convince him that the interlopers were in another direction. The veteran cultist however saw through the bronze dragonborn's lie and struck him, taking him captive as he sent his guard after the others, pulling off the Amulet of Tiamat Barra had taken from the kobold leader back in Cragmaw Cave. Despite some escape attempted to overwhelm the dragonborn, Barra was knocked unconscious, his allies retrograde advancing to the west. Category:Blog posts